Sunday 31 October 2010

--FRIGHT LIFE--

What makes a photo 'scary'-or creepy at least? Is it the lighting, the pose, the location? A combination of the three? Or something else entirely?

















(fashiongonerogue.com; hivennn.blogspot.com; fashiongonerogue.com; tobaccoandleather.blogspot.com; coldam.com; fashiongonerogue.com; inafractionofasecond.blogspot.com; fashiongonerogue.com; theones2watch.com; ilovewildfox.com; fashiongonerogue.com; lefashionimage.blogspot.com; fashiongonerogue.com)

Saturday 30 October 2010

--HALLOWEEN COSTUME--

It saddens me greatly to say that I'm not actually 'doing' Hallowe'en this year. Well, I didn't really 'do' it last year either. Why is it always on a Sunday? What is that? Is it to deliberately ruin the lives of all those little kiddies (and not-so-little teenagers) whose parents are all, "No no, Bob, no going out late on a school night," etc etc? Those calendar gods are meean.

Anyway, if I was going as something, because I am inherently lazy and because people in England always stick to really traditional costume ideas, I would use dressing up as Little Red Riding Hood as an excuse to get my hands on this cute duffle cape from Topshop. Kind of like Paddington Bear's coat, but not in blue.

(If you noticed the awkwardly empty bottom right corner, then you are annoying. I couldn't make everything fit in a perfect rectangle, and then I tried to cover up my lack of skill with a vaguely related background, and now I'm exhausted from the effort and am typing nonsense instead. Gotta love Saturday afternoons.)


Cape-Topshop
Leggings-Topshop
Boots-Zara
Basket-candigifts.co.uk

(topshop.com; zara.com; munkeboelinens.com; candigifts.co.uk)

Friday 29 October 2010

--CHANDELIERS--

It's Hallowe'en on Saturday...so, along with watching Vampire Diaries (oh my god, I want to live in Mystic Falls. Seems like you need to be good looking to own a house there), here are a few olde mansion-style photos to get us all in the mood a little...(Plus the obligatory Prada S/S '10 photo, without which a chandelier-themed post would not be complete).







(carlesrodrigo.es; garancedore.fr; studdedhearts.blogspot.com; carlesrodrigo.es; fashionising.com; stylebubble.co.uk)

Thursday 28 October 2010

--ZARA--

Photos from their October lookbooks. Dayum, Zara have such great stylists. I have to say, out of the major high street chains, Zara gets my vote this season: walking into their shop on Regent Street back in late August was like entering a minimalist heaven: they channeled Celine like nobody's business, and I love it.Too bad I don't have an office job so I could justify buying all the amazing, sleek blouses and tailored trousers.

Also, I've decided I need to buy some heels. I only have one pair, which are black stilettos for occasional smart evening occasions. I'm thinking some black ankle boots. Anyone has a fairly cheap, purchaseable-in-Britain pair, please hit me up with a link.



(zara.com)

Wednesday 27 October 2010

--FASHION ILLUSTRATION--

For a long time, illustration was the prime medium through which fashion was communicated to the general public, gracing major magazine covers and billboards as a matter of course. In Vogue, for example, the illustrator was given the power to integrate the magazine title into the cover as he chose, which is a telling example of how much power was invested in the creativity of illustration: a familiar logo is now considered one of the key assets of any brand, especially in the publishing world, where it must be picked out on a newsstand among dozens of other similar glossies.



















(American Vogue 1937 and 1920)

For reasons chronicled better elsewhere than here, however, fashion illustration underwent a steady decline throughout the 20th Century, exactly opposing the stratospheric rise of photography which was soon the only way to depict clothes and the models wearing them. But recently there's been a sudden rush of articles in weekend culture magazines, and monthly fashion glossies, and even the 'what's on' sections of free London dailies, about fashion illustration and its resurgence. And now (if you live in London) there's a load of illustration-related stuff to see.




3. Fashion Illustration Gallery (you can see a load of their prints here-for some reason parts of their site didn't load on my computer, but maybe that's just my internet malfunctioning).

Alternatively, if you don't live in London or have a busy busy life, you can stalk the internet.
1. David Downton, who kick-started all these articles earlier in the year with his new book, has a naice site. He's one of the most well-known illustrators of the moment: he draws the Fenwick adverts, and W H Smith sell cards with his drawings on. (Oh yes, I'm that cool).


2. Garance Dore, who is now more well-known for her photography and nifty videos, started out as an illustrator. While I've never actually seen any of her drawings in print, there's no doubt that she'll have gained exposure via her blog.


3. Random post on Dorothea Barth Jorgensen's blog which was what prompted me to do this rather lengthy post in the first place. She interviewed an illustrator in her sweet way-always love reading her slightly broken English.


(aejmcmagazine.bsu.edu; bloggoggles.blogspot.com; somersethouse.org.uk; designmuseum.org; vogue.co.uk; todayandtomorrow.net; garancedore.fr; displacedbones.blogspot.com)

Tuesday 26 October 2010

--ON TOP OF THE WORLD--

Sometimes, when I can't get to sleep or I'm bored in a lesson, I daydream about the fantasy home in which I'll one day live. Obviously this varies from day to day, but one of the recurring scenarios is a Manhattan apartment with a nice accessible rooftop up above. Sizing isn't so important-anything bigger than a walk-in wardrobe apparently costs the earth, and anyway, how much space does a person need? It only becomes a stuff receptacle-but for some reason the idea of an urban eyrie is so appealing. Think of all those classic cliches: lying on tatty blankets with friends, playing music from a stereo (never iPod speakers; how terribly un-grunge would that be?), sunbathing in your underwear...All with a panoramic view of one of the world's most famous cities.

Incidentally, my ex-boyfriend had a house with an accessible roof. Admittedly, it was only two stories high in south-west London, but even being able to see rows of terraced houses from a high vantage point was weirdly cool. His house is kind of a general rendezvous point for all our friends, and we did the whole blanket/food/music/sunbathing thing. I suppose it all plays into that whole 'starving garrett artist' thing, like Jo March in Little Women. Fun times, and one day I'll be living this specific dream.








(fashiongonerogue.com; ilovewildfox.com; fashiongonerogue.com)

Sunday 24 October 2010

--COTTON WOOL CANDYFLOSS SKIES--

Blogger was messed up today and kept freezing my internet every time I opened a new post, right up until now. And it's Sunday evening so, in typical lazy fashion, all I can be bothered to do now is post these filler photos which I uploaded eons ago. Soz peeps.

(While writing my, er, incredibly arty and indeh title, I for some reason was reminded of The Beatles classic, Lucy in the sky with diamonds. Lyrics and video, if you live in a hole and have never heard the song before. I don't pretend to understand what the words mean, having never taken LSD, but I discovered once that if you do the auditory equivalent of letting your eyes go blurry before listening, it's quite cool. Or, you know, if that doesn't really make sense (don't know why it wouldn't, seems like a perfectly reasonable suggestion to me), then just listen when you're really tired and dozy.)

Ok, enough Sunday evening craziness for this week. I love The Beatles. Hope y'all had a good weekend.




(hardtoexplain79.blogspot.com; fashiongonerogue.com; sandmer.se)

Saturday 23 October 2010

--HOLD ON TIGHT--

Clutches fall into the category of things I like the idea of, but find hard to incorporate into my daily life. Like day heels and healthy eating. For me, going out should be a fun experience, and I find that the experience is impinged on somewhat if one of my hands is constantly occupied in holding a small bag. For evening they take on a more useful role, as you only ever need a few things for a night out (phone, iPod, keys, Oyster card), although this usually causes me to swing the other day and walk out with my few necessities stuffed into my pockets, allowing me to use my hands for other things. (That sounded really creepy-not sure how to phrase it in a way which avoids creepiness. (How depressing-am I just naturally sinister?). But be assured, I'm not some born-again Sweeny Todd.)

Anyway, I've decided that clutches have only two uses:
1) As a red carpet accessory
2) If you're a fashion editor/general successful person who doesn't actually organise their own life, but has slaves who carry their keys etc. with them

The more eagle-eyed of you may have noticed that neither of the above categories really applies to me. Heigh ho, guess it's just voluminous shoulder bags/grotty coat pockets for me...But we can still nod and smile in satisfaction at pretty clutches carried by other, less weirdly OCD people.




















(vogue.ru; jakandjil.com; style.com; carolinesmode.com; karlascloset.com; meijias.blogbus.com; nast-magazine.ft; carolinesmode.com; vogue.co.uk; waynetippetts.com)